By Shelba Waldron - Director of Club Education and Outreach, USA Gymnastics
If you are a parent whose child is entering the coaching workforce, please read this article to help them understand the importance of maintaining professional boundaries with the children they are supervising or coaching.
This summer, 2022 Regional Congress attendees had the opportunity to attend sessions related to understanding the newest member of the workforce, Generation Z. The workshop focuses on how Gen Z communicates along with their expectations and needs from the club management as they navigate a coaching position.
The "Boundary Circle" is a valuable tool to help young or inexperienced staff members better understand the importance of maintaining professional boundaries with athletes.
The Boundary Circle is a basic look at privacy. It explains what we should or should not be sharing as the circle expands. This includes what we tell others about our personal lives, how we express our emotions, physical touch, and our personal space. The Boundary Circle allows a person to recognize how much personal information he or she should be sharing with others. The tighter the circle, the fewer people should know intimate details about a person's life. The smallest circle represents the most private information that is not shared with anyone. As the circle expands, the number of people increases, but the amount of information shared and physical touch decreases.
There are 4 circles to consider. They are:
Privacy
Intimacy
Professional
Acquaintance
As a person moves away from the inner circles, they share fewer initiate details of their life, and they expand their personal space. Intimate life details are considered "need to know." Children they coach, parents and most coworkers should remain in the Professional Circle.
We encourage parents who have Gen Z children coaching to discuss the Boundary Circle and the importance of maintaining professional interactions with children.
